The correct answer is: The normal stress at the neutral axis is zero.
The statement "The normal stress at the neutral axis is zero" is not correct regarding the neutral axis of a beam in pure bending. In pure bending, the neutral axis experiences pure bending stress, which is a combination of tensile and compressive stresses.
The normal stress at the neutral axis is not zero; it is, in fact, zero at the centroid of the section. So, the correct answer is: The normal stress at the neutral axis is zero. The neutral axis is an axis within the beam's cross-section where the material experiences only elastic deformation without any change in length. At the neutral axis, the fibers neither stretch nor compress; hence, the strain is zero at this location.